Interviews

Here are the archived interviews with comic artists, many of whom have been special guests of the festival.

 

Interview: Abraham Díaz

Short Run was excited to invite Abraham Díaz to Seattle as a special guest for this year’s festival. Unfortunately, Abraham’s visa application was denied by U.S Customs and Border Patrol. Despite this, Short Run has been committed to ensuring that the Short Run community connects with Abraham’s work in his absence. Short Run board member Lylianna Allala video conferenced with Abraham and they talked about horror films, comics, punk music and the power that exists in between the margins. What you are about to read is in Spanglish and stays true to the spirit of how their conversation unfolded.   Read more…

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Interview: Jasjyot Singh Hans

When we found Jasjyot’s work on Instagram, we were so excited by his bold black lines, these gorgeous big women with intricate braids and stunning fashion. At first glance, we assumed he was an illustrator and lamented, “If only he made books too! He’d be an awesome special guest”. We moved on in our search, but then decided to double back and actually research him more; we screamed a bit when we found out that he made zines and books too. Board Chair Mita Mahato asked Jasjyot a few questions about the poster he designed for us, his love of fashion, and his commitment to promoting body positivity in both women and men. We can’t wait to have him at the festival on Saturday, Nov. 9th! 

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Categories: Interviews

Interview: Marc Bell

Marc Bell, a Canadian cartoonist, has been making comics, art books, zines, collages, mail art, paintings and sculptures since the early 90’s when he went to an art high school and later took fine art in University. In this conversation with his old pal and colleague, Megan Kelso, they discuss his current work, collaboration, inspiration and the travails of being a “mid-career artist.” The conversation took place in a series of email exchanges during August and September 2019. Marc was scheduled to be a special guest but had to unfortunately cancel due to border and immigration fears.  Read more…

Interview: Malaka Gharib

Malaka Gharib’s graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream, is about growing up Egyptian-Filipino-American. Short Run board member, Otts Bolisay, a Filipino-Bahamian-American, knew of Gharib first as an NPR journalist before realizing she was also a comics artist and zinester. This is their conversation.

Cover for Malaka Gharib's "I Was Their American Dream"
All pages reprinted from I WAS THEIR AMERICAN DREAM Copyright © 2019 by Malaka Gharib. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

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Interview: Glynnis Fawkes

This year we plan to introduce our special guests to our audience via personal interviews with the Short Run Board. We are very excited to welcome them to Seattle, and hope you will take the time to get to know their work prior to their arrival in November!

Cartoonist Glynnis Fawkes and Short Run board member Meredith Li-Vollmer met at the University of Oregon in 1989 when they took a year-long math class together. Thirty years later, Meredith interviewed Glynnis, who will be a visiting artist at the Short Run Comix and Arts Festival this fall. They discussed Glynnis’ unusual pathway to comics—via archaeology—and her two books that will be published this year, Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre and Persephone’s Garden.

Pencil drawing of Meredith and Glynnis in a college classroom

Glynnis Fawkes and Meredith Li-Vollmer in Topics of Modern Math class in college, circa 1989, where Glynnis did some fine comics doodling while Meredith looked over her shoulder. Drawn by Glynnis. Read more…